Basildon Park is an 18-century Georgian mansion surrounded by 400-acre parkland, built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes in the Palladian style with neoclassical “Adamesque” style interiors. But the house has not been in such elegant shape all the time through its history. In 1910 it was standing empty and it was requisitioned by the Government in 1914 as an army convalescent hospital. In 1929, it was stripped of many of its fixtures and fittings and abandoned, following a failed attempt to dismantle and rebuild the house in the USA. During WW II, the house was again requisitioned and served as a barracks, a training ground for tanks, and a prisoner of war camp. But in the mid 1950s, the house was rescued from ruin by Lord and Lady Iliffe and restored beautifully as you see now. The Basildon was given to the National Trust in 1978.

At Basildon, you can also experience 1950s British living room (just after the entrance) and spacious kitchen (the last room in the house), filled with retro everyday objects.